6 mo's have flown by!

I can not believe Mercy Jayne is already 6 months old...It has seriously flown by.

She has gone from this...

To this today...

She is so happy and curious, and her face lights up every time she sees her brothers or sisters. She is just starting to sit up and she loves her jumperoo, although she tries to walk in it more than jumping.

This is my absolute favorite age, everything is new and each new day brings new milestones and discoveries.

I can't wait to spend the next 6 months with her!

Thank you Lord for this child, I can not imagine life without her.

Wheeew! We have almost made it!

So to say that things have been busy would be quite an understatement.  I had no idea how child #4 would turn our world upside down...well I think it was the collision of said child and my (and Annalee's) first official year of home educating that really did it.

Even though we got 6 weeks in prior to Mercy's arrival and took about that same amount of time off after she was born, nothing I did really prepared me for what it would be like to try to teach Annalee (and Jude and Ezra) while taking care of an infant.

There was a LOT of trial and error, and LOTS of tears...some of them were even Annalee's....Lots of "I give up's", and lots of "I'm sorry's", and lots of "Ok, let's start over and try this again's".

There has been just as much learning about patience and forgiveness as there has been about Math Facts, and Grammar.  It has definitely been very educational for both of us.

And here we are in the home stretch of 1st grade, and not only did we survive, but we are better for it!

The Top 5 things I have learned this year

1) Not using an official curriculum with a laid out plan is NOT FOR ME! We made it work, but more than anything I have obsessed and worried over whether or not I was covering all the necessities and I KNOW that contributed hugely to how hard this year has been.

2) I am not a teacher. I have no clue what the "right" way is to teach Math Facts, or Money or Reading...non, nada, zilch. It is only by the Grace of God that this is working, His blessing and favor are definitely upon us.

3) I am loving it!- The joy I get from watching their little faces when they finally "get it" makes it oh so worth it.

4) It is lonely- For me, not so much for the kiddos, but where I was once able to do play dates and hang out with other SAHM's, now we do school, and it is hard to take time off to do other things.  Where other people are sending their kids to school and have the day time hours to occasionally have coffee with a friend, I do not, and it has not been easy to connect with other homeschoolers, especially when no one in my immediate circle of friends does it.

5) I really don't have to wear make up everyday- Ha! I know I know, I should have already known that, but this year and it's many time challenges have put having a full face of makeup waaaaay down on the priority list, and I am totally ok with that.

Oh and a huge bonus! Just about any fun thing we do can be counted as a field trip! We went to Cedar falls park last weekend and I got to count it since there is a lot of history there from the Cherokee Indians to battle land to how it used to be a woolen mill, saw mill and power plant. Plus the science about the wild life that can be spotted there!

Here are some pics from our day...

Mercy's Birthday

So Miss Mercy was breech, I became aware of that right around 34 weeks, because of pain in my ribs, and ultrasound confirmed that was her little round head pressing into my ribs on my left side...nice.

After a successful version at 37 weeks, she decided to flip back up to where she seemed most comfortable, so Dr. Keith and I decided to give it one more try at 39 weeks and if it worked to immediately induce labor.

It just so happened that my doctor was scheduled on call on Friday Sept 20, the very first day of my 39th week.  Sept. 20th also happened to be the exact same day that we found out we had lost our sweet baby last year.  This realization floored me, it felt so full circle and completely redemptive.

Romans 8:28
 ^"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,^[a] for those who are called according to his purpose."

To have all the pain and sadness that started last year on Sept. 20th, to be relieved and the desires of our heart fulfilled exactly one year later, was just more than we could have imagined, but the Lord knew, He knew when he created that sweet baby, and when He took that baby, He knew his plan even though we didn't.

Jeremiah 29:11
 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Mercy-"A blessing as an act of divine love"   Jayne- "God is gracious"

And she is every bit of these definitions.  We are blessed beyond measure.

Ephesians 3:20-21
20Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

It's a.....

Healthy Baby!!

I am so relieved!  We loved seeing all the pictures and hearing over and over again, yep that looks good! We got some pretty good pictures, but baby is very active and it wasn't very easy to get a good one of the face.


We came home and gave this card to the kids to open...

Here's the video of Annalee reading it...

Another Chance

As you all know I'm pregnant! I am 18 weeks and 4 days. Exactly 1 week from today we will be going in for the "BIG" ultrasound where we (hopefully) see that this sweet baby has all it's fingers and toes and and everything is functioning  and healthy as it should be at this point, and we will get to find out the gender! Which is the most exciting part for most people.  But I have to say that I am the most anxious about the healthy part.  I know it sounds cliche, but I am truly just hoping for a healthy baby, I do not care about boy or girl, just healthy.

I finally feel like I can share this with all of you. See, today April 30th is my due date.  Well it was anyway, with a sweet little baby that we conceived last summer.  We were surprised and a little bit anxious.  We had 2 previous very early losses since Ezra had been born, and so for the first little bit we were nervous, but as the days passed we got more and more comfortable and used to the idea, so at about 8 weeks, just a couple of days before our first ultrasound, we told our parents and our kids, and everyone was so thrilled and excited to be adding to our sweet family!  Annalee and Jude especially could barely be contained.  My heart was so full!

Then came time for the appt.  We were waiting for this appt to share the news with the rest of our family and friends.  My doctor likes to do the 1st ultrasound herself, so it was just Jay and I and Dr. Keith in there, she turned the lights off, and the screen came up, and you could immediately make out this little bitty bean with teeny tiny little arm and leg buds!  But it was also immediately evident that something was missing.  Dr. Keith said "Amy I'm not seeing a heartbeat".  and she scrolled the picture in really close and we all watched with held breath, willing that little flicker to appear.  But it didn't. As Jay stood there holding my hand, I couldn't stop the tears, they just came and came. I asked if there was anyway it could be a mistake, she said no, the baby measured perfectly at 8 weeks and 2 days, and there should definitely be a heartbeat at that point, which of course I knew. But still I couldn't give up, I asked her if I could take a couple of days and come back for a follow up "just in case".  I was hoping for a miracle.  But it didn't come. I went back 2 days later and there was no change.  After an extremely painful and heart wrenching week I had to go in for a D&C.

As I woke up in the recovery room, a nurse had already gone to get Jay, apparently I was crying before I was even fully awake. I can barely describe how difficult all of this was for me. I struggled with so much guilt and just pure sadness for the loss of a baby that I had already bonded with and loved. It seemed like everywhere around me someone was either announcing a pregnancy or giving birth. I mourned over ultrasound pictures I had but would never share. 

But as they say it got easier with time, and we had our wonderful friends and family who rallied around us and offered us so much comfort and support, and as the months went by I knew I wanted to actually "try" for a baby.  Something we had never done before.  We decided when the doc gave us the ok, we would give it 3 months, if we got pregnant great, if not, then it was just time to move on to the next phase of our life.  Well turns out we only needed one month, and here we are. Even though I still feel a little melancholy today, remembering that time and the pain that came with it, I am  now even more thankful for another chance to carry and mother another sweet child.

So yeah I'm nervous. I am anxiously waiting to hear the "everything looks great" way more than the "it's a boy! or it's a girl!" part.

I wanted to share this because it seems like no one talks about pregnancy loss, for some reason its still taboo, yes it is extremely painful, but it can also be very isolating.  If no one knows then you have to just move through life like everything is fine when it very much is not.  I hope that my experience has made me a better person and friend, and that it can help someone else somewhere along the way.

So if you think about it in the next week just say a prayer for us and this sweet babe, for a good report and a healthy pregnancy.

The Bug....and a teeny announcement

I never should have opened my big mouth. I had just been telling Jay how we seemed to have dodged a bullet this winter with no real sickness other than runny noses..

And then Monday afternoon came, and we were hit. Annalee started complaining of stomach pain, and a few hours later, I knew why.  She was sick for days, and by Thursday I thought we were surely past it and somehow it had missed the rest of us...nope. 

At about 4 am Thursday morning it hit Ezra, and by Friday night, though the vomiting seemed to be over, he was running a temp of nearly 105.  While we debated on whether or not to take him to the emergency room that night, Jude woke up...puking.  and continued to puke until nearly 6 am.  Thankfully Ezra's fever broke around 2 am, and Jay and I took shifts being with Jude.  I think I seriously had 1 1/2 hours of sleep that night.  Saturday was much the same, the boys continued to run temps off and on and to throw up every now and then. and just wanted lay around. We have definitely eaten more than our fair share of popsicles over these days.

Poor Jude, he tried to fight the vomiting, and made it so much more forceful coming out, he actually has little burst blood vessels around each eye. 

It has seemed to hit each of them a little differently, and has left Jay and I wondering when it's our turn.

Here we are at Sunday, almost a full week into this, and can I just say I am exhausted.  I have cleaned bathrooms and floors and rugs, and cuddled kid after kid, and wiped and washed every piece of bed clothing we own and all of the towels we own more than once, and stripped vomit covered kids and vomit covered beds, through all hours of the day and night.  And yes this is just part of the job, and I try to do it with out complaining to much, although Jay might say otherwise :)  But this sickness has hit us hard, and me hard it seems.  I am having a hard time recovering from the lack of sleep and over work...



But there might be another reason for that too...This is happening, right now...

Yep...another precious little Scott baby is on the way! We are so thrilled to be blessed with another addition to our family.  But let me be honest, it is kicking my but right now.  I have been sicker and more exhausted than with the others.  But hopefully easier days are on the way! 

Baby #4 is due to arrive near the end of September!  Please join us in praying for a healthy and happy pregnancy.

Much love to all, more updates coming soon!

Baseball Season!

So I decided Jude needed something to do...and I thought he should try baseball!  I really thought it would be T-ball, but it turned out to be coaches pitch...Jude is not even 4 yet, and has never hit a ball in his life, but ooookaaaay.

The season started in September, with 2 practices a week...

Where they did ridiculously cute stuff like stretch...

Later in mid October they started playing real games...twice a week! It seemed excessive to me, but we did it!  And for the most part Jude really liked it.  He got super bored in the outfield though and would revert to playing in the dirt, making dirt angels and just plain sitting down.  Jay spent most of his time standing near Jude to try and redirect his focus.

I think each kid got like 10 pitches before they brought out the T, so to be fair, they did have to wait awhile for any action...here's Jude in one of his better moments, I think he stayed up right for this whole video.

It was all slightly painful the 2 games a week where Jay had to rush home from work to be there in time and I had to feed everyone an hour early, and of course Ezra did not understand why he couldn't play and he screamed and cried pretty much the entire time to be on the field. Yeah.

But there were some unbelievably cute moments, and we did see huge improvement in Jude's skills, by the end of the season he was able to hit the coaches pitch at every at bat, and he had a basic concept of what the game was about.  He absolutely LOVES his shirt and hat and wants to wear them all the time.

But we may wait a couple of years before we try again.

How's it going?

Lately a lot of people have asked how homeschooling is going, and I have responded GREAT!  Seriously I am loving every (ok, maybe not EVERY) minute of it, but most of them! But I also usually say it's great SO FAR.  I realize I only have a K-4 and a K-5, and out time spent sitting at the table in active homeschooling mode is only about 1-1 1/2 hours per day.  So I know it is going to get harder from here. 

But, so far, it's awesome.  I am the one that gets to see their little faces lite up when they get the question right, and I'm the one that gets to read all of my old favorites and now new favorites to them, and watch as their love of learning and reading is growing every single day.

Annalee has recently started READING, and I would not trade being the one their with her that first day for anything in the whole world.  It was priceless. 


But with all that said, there are a few downers.  Like I have no idea where to fit in getting groceries anymore, and morning appt's are no longer good for us, but I keep forgetting that and scheduling them then anyway, and I have this little problem called Ezra.  He thinks he should be able to do whatever Annalee and Jude are doing including gluing and cutting. I gave in on the gluing, and am watching my supply of glue stick dwindle very very quickly, but that has helped a little.  Have not given in on the scissors though, and that leads to a lot of melt downs and poor Ezra ends up spending some of class time alone in his crib.  Thankfully for him, he is great at entertaining himself, I went to get him up the other day and he had his blanket over his head, giggling and saying "it got dark mama, it got dark!"

And there is also this part I am desperately trying to get used to while desperately trying to figure out a way to make it better...


The Homeschool Chaos...it takes over every single morning and takes a while to put back in order, and honestly some of it never goes back to the way it was before...


this is my dining room/homeschool room

 and that is the little bugger Ezra trying to get something, anything out of the cabinet he's not supposed to have...

And this is one of the display walls in the kitchen, this is only a couple of weeks worth, I keep having to switch it out to make room for new stuff!

They absolutely love seeing their work on display, Ezra will usually take his straight to the fridge and hang it up though!

So there you go, that's how it's going, we are enjoying ourselves, and I'm going to enjoy that for as long as it lasts!

And it was such a nice day...

Well at least before I decided I NEEDED to go to Hobby Lobby.  I finally feel close to normal again, and decided to do a little decorating for fall, and you can't do that without a trip to Hobby Lobby, right??

So after nap time I load up the kids, grab my little list and head out, get a couple miles down the road and realize I forgot my phone, so I turn around and go back, I should have just stayed there!

We get there, and after a short screaming fit from Ezra due to being put in the stroller (along with Jude), we are inside and shopping happily, I pull out my list, and head for the first item, Pumpkin orange craft paint...check, it is in the basket, Jude is happily holding the basket for me since it is nearly impossible to carry it and push the stroller... now I have 3 of my items off my list, but can't seem to find the felt...and I happen to look down at Jude, and he is covered...COVERED in ORANGE PAINT.  And, it is leaking out into the basket and all over his shorts!!!

I try to pull us over on an aisle with only one other person and pull out the baby wipes, thank you Jesus I still carry baby wipes!  And for the next 15 minutes I clean everything, the basket, the stroller, my items, the floor, ME, Jude the floor again, the floor some more, I just can not seem to get it all out of the freakin basket and everytime I put it down there is more on the floor.  Mean while the aisle I pick is like woodruff road at Christmas time, people are suddenly everywhere, and most of them staring at the crazy lady cleaning the floor in Hobby lobby, and then this MAN ( I mean seriously, what is this 60 year old man doing on the purse making aisle anyway???) is standing next to us intently studying whatever we are standing in front of, and at this point I am thinking, you are just going to have to move on MR. and come back in a few minutes when we are gone, cause I ain't moving...but does he???  Nope he squeezes himself between my double stroller and the shelf, and I am just praying Jude doesn't get paint on this mans sports coat, but at that point I was so pissed off, I almost didn't care, I mean was he completely oblivious to the fact that there was orange paint EVERYWHERE, and I was barely getting it contained???  It was crazy, and when it was as good as I could get it we moved on and by golly I got the rest of the stuff I came for, even though that stupid basket was still dripping watery orange paint on every aisle...


Here's the culprit, he kept saying "I'm very sorry mommy, I'm really very sorry" mmmhmmm...

And all the wipes....Yes I brought them home, what else was I supposed to do with half a container of paint covered wipes???

Too bad so sad buddy

I really am a bad mom, I absolutely hate to let Ezra use crayons, markers or play dough...he either eats them or colors all over himself, or the table, or the wall, or whatever he can find.  Neither of my other 2 really did this, they seemed pretty content to just color on paper and make stuff with their play dough...but not Ezra...

I do give in occasionally though, thinking surely this time will be different, he will get it and actually enjoy trying to create something, although I do buckle him in his booster chair now after previous experience, so he has limited damage range...

and then this is what happens...he decides to color his legs and hands, and when I take the markers away...

This pose is so classic Ezra...anytime he is unhappy with you, he crosses his arms and looks down and pouts...

He was mad at me for quite a while after this one...too bad so sad buddy...

Accidents Happen

Of all the children, we only have one that really likes to jump on the beds...they will all do it occasionally, but there is one that just can't resist, he can not be unsupervised in a room with a bed and not jump on it.  He will also take all the cushions off the couch and jump there too. 

Yes, we tell him to stop, and yes he has consequences when he doesn't...so far that has not helped, a few days later he'll be right back at it...

There are also natural consequences to actions...that was the lesson for him today...he got to see that all the times we told him "no jumping on the beds, you're going to fall and get hurt!" were not lies or mommy meanness...they were truth...

Thankfully he's ok, it could have been a lot worse, we were just millimeters away from an ER visit...

This is the outside of his lip, it's bruised and scraped...

and the inside...almost all the way through.... it already looks better and closed up compared to when he first did it...

It's really really sore, and I imagine that eating today is going to be a challenge for him...any wagers on how long it takes him to be right back at it???

Just a typical day...

 Bamboo, sparkly shoes, rain boots, bats and underwear...completely normal, right?